One bombing suspect dead, second in custody

A police officer reacts to news of the arrest of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Friday, April 19, 2013, in Boston. Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured in Watertown, Mass. The 19-year-old college student wanted in the bombings was taken into custody Friday evening after a manhunt that left the city virtually paralyzed and his older brother and accomplice dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WATERTOWN, MASS. - A 19-year-old college student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Friday evening after a manhunt that left the city virtually paralyzed, and his older brother and accomplice dead.

Police announced via Twitter that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was in custody. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed early Friday morning in a furious attempt to escape police.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been holed up in a boat in a Watertown neighborhood. The crowd gathered near the scene let out a cheer when spectators saw officers clapping.

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On Mount Auburn Street in Watertown, those gathered cheered and chanted “USA, USA,” as public-safety personnel and ambulances rode by after the capture.

“I was worried and afraid to go outside. Now it is back to peace and safety,” said Lulu Zhang, 28, Watertown.

“Justice is always a good thing,” said George Robinson, 42, an army recruiter who lives near the shootout location.

The Boston Globe reported that Tsarnaev was taken to Mount Auburn Hospital Cambridge.

Multiple witnesses reported that he was covered in blood during the standoff. Police officials described his condition as serious.

The standoff began earlier in the day when police received a call from a Franklin Street resident who had recently left his home shortly after a 6 p.m. press conference announcing that law enforcement agencies were standing down their 19-hour search, and that residents were free to leave their homes. The man reported that there was blood on a boat he kept in his yard.

A large number of police cars soon were reported rushing back to the Watertown neighborhood, heading toward Franklin Street.

Watertown residents, who had just been told it was safe to leave their homes, suddenly heard gunshots fired as police engaged the suspect.

“It was pop, pop, pop, pop,” said Jimmy McDonald, 53, of Boston who was driving through the area.

McDonald said he heard 12 to 15 shots.

“They told us to get out of here,” he said.

“I was walking home and then I heard rapid-fire gunshots,” said Haymie Tesfaye, 30, who lives near where the shots were fired. “It was the scariest moment of my life.

“ I just want this to end,” Tesfaye said. She said she heard about 20 shots and was hopeful police were targeting the suspect.

Shafeeq Ahmed, 49, lives just a couple blocks from where the shots fired. He said he counted 19 shots.

“I was trying to go see if my brother was in his apartment, but when I heard the shots I froze and was told to move back behind the caution tape quickly,” said Javier Rosales, 32, of Belmont.

After exchanging gunshots with the suspect, police engaged a standoff that lasted more than two hours. Around 9 p.m., witnesses outside the scene reported hearing police communicate with the suspect with a megaphone.

Shortly afterward, police officers began to clap, which led shortly to the announcement that Tsarnaev was in custody.

Watertown resident Carlos Lerman, who was outside his house picking up a pizza when Tsarnaev was finally located, was relieved, but weary after the day-long ordeal.

“It’s a peaceful neighborhood,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate that this has to happen.

As news of the arrest spread throughout the city, residents took the opportunity to mark the occasion.

In the minutes following news that the suspect was in custody, Matt Karolian of Boston, was hanging the American flag on barricades on Boylston Street, yards from the finish line of the marathon that had become a crime scene.

Karolian was at a nearby bar, and he had the flag with him in anticipation that Tsarnaev would be captured Friday night after watching the news.

He said this was the most appropriate time to use the flag.

“It’s a sign of hope,” he said. “The American flag has always been a sign of hope, and there’s never been a stronger message than that,”

Others at the memorial, such as Minneapolis native Dick Adair, thought ahead to the forthcoming trial, assuming Tsarnaev survives.

“We can find out what his motives were and he can explain himself in court to the best of his ability,” Adair said. “It doesn’t go any good to take his life because he took lives.”

In a brief televised address, President Obama congratulated law enforcement on resolving the standoff, while also reflecting on many of the investigations unanswered questions.

“One thing we do know is that whatever hateful agenda drove these men to such heinous acts will not, cannot, prevail,” Obama said.

The president also took the opportunity to express his sympathy for the town of West, Texas, where an explosion Wednesday at a fertilizer factory killed at least 14 people and injured more than 100.

The spasm of violence in and around Boston began with the robbery of a Shell convenience store Thursday night. The two men are also suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer on campus late Thursday, stealing a Mercedes SUV at gunpoint and later releasing its driver unharmed.

That led to a furious overnight gun battle that left 200 spent rounds behind and after a wild car chase in which he and his brother hurled explosives at police, authorities said. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died in the shootout, run over by his younger brother in a car as he lay wounded, according to investigators.

Mark Tripp, who lives on Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown, witnessed the confrontation between police and the suspects.

“I heard what sounded like an M-80 go off on my street,” he said. “I ran to the scene and I saw a man face-down on the street, pinned on the ground with red dots on him . Police said ‘don’t move or I’ll blow your brains out.’ The guy didn’t move a muscle.”

Speaking later at a hospital, Dr. Richard Wolfe described the injuries suffered by the suspect during his arrest.

“This was a trauma arrest, multiple injuries. Probably, we believe a combination of blast and potentially gunshot wounds,” he said. Wolfe said he was “unable to count” the number of bullets that hit the body, adding that it looked like the body had been struck by an explosive device, including, possibly, shrapnel.

Wolfe was then asked if it appeared that the man had a bomb strapped to his chest.

“Unclear. I think the medical examiner will be able to conclusively say that,” Wolfe said. “But there were signs of more than just gunshot wounds.”

Younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had gotten away, apparently on foot. SWAT teams then swarmed the tense and locked-down streets of Boston and its suburbs Friday in an all-out hunt for the 19-year-old.

Scores of officers descended on Watertown, guns at the ready. Law enforcement officials worked to keep areas of interest clear of bystanders as they closed in with armored vehicles and armed officers.

Authorities urged residents in Boston and the surrounding suburbs to stay indoors. All mass transit was shut down, along with Amtrak service. All schools, including colleges, in the Boston area were closed.

Andy Scott of Watertown was awakened around midnight on Friday to the sound of the explosives and gunshots. As the day progressed, Scott said, things began to calm down. But the area still felt uneasy to him.

“It’s crazy to think that such a peaceful residential area is just totally on complete lockdown. You don’t think that something could happen here,” he said. “You look outside and it looks like the apocalypse.”

AP identified the suspects as coming from the Caucasus region of Russia. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared to have set up a page on a Russian-language site similar to Facebook, where he says his priorities are “career and money.”

Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of the two suspects, described Dzhokhar as “a true angel,” in a telephone interview with the AP from the Russian city of Makhachkala.

Ruslan Tsarni, uncle to the two suspects, said the family moved to Cambridge from Kyrgyzstan in 2003. Tamerlan Tsarnaev became a Greater Lowell Golden Glove boxer and former heavyweight champion.

Tsarni gave an impassioned press conference outside his home and addressed the grief felt by those affected by the explosions, saying he was “ready to bend in front of them, to kneel in front of them, seeking their forgiveness in the name of the family.”

He said the brothers suspected in the attack had disgraced their relatives.

The slain MIT officer was identified on Friday as Sean Collier, 26, of Somerville, Mass. Collier had been an MIT police officer since January 2012. Before that he worked a civilian employee with the Somerville Police Department.

Police Chief John DiFava described Collier as a dedicated officer who was extremely well liked by his colleagues and the MIT community.